New Kanata North tech hub part of bigger plan for 'living lab' in west end

The Kanata North Business Association says Hub 350, its new coworking space and networking hub, is the beginning of a larger change for the west end and its tech sector.

Hub 350 opened this week, after nearlytwo years in which remote working has becomethe norm and big industry players like Shopify have announceda permanent move to working from anywhere.

Along with work space, Hub 350 also offers a venue forthe 540 companies and their 24,000-plus employeesin the tech park to collaborate, said business association CEO Jamie Petten.

The Legget Drive space will alsoprovide connections to each of Ottawa's post-secondary institutions allowing for co-op placements, recruitment and specialized training and toinvestors so that entrepreneurs can get their ideas off the ground.

"At the end of the day, culture matters. Those people need a place to connect," she said.

Petten saidCOVID-19 hasn't slowed down hiring in the network technology and software sectors that dominate the technology park, with about 1,000 vacancies on the region's integrated job board.

A 'living lab' for 5G

The hub also fits into a larger vision, Petten said,that would see Kanata North asa "living lab" for technologies developed there and whichuse innovations like5G to solve local issueslike congestion.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Petten said.

"I'm hopefulthat we'll see pilots of autonomous shuttles on our live city streets here in Kanata North in the next 12 to 18 months and residential componentswithin our community within the next five years."

The idea of incorporating more residential units and changing the way people get around is part of Kanata North's designation as a "special economic district" in the recently-passed official plan.

It's only the second such district, after the airport.

Making connections

Cliniconex founder and CEO Anthony Marsaid the hub will provide his company access to experts that will help it grow beyond its existing 2,000 clients in the health-care and long-term care fields.

Mar said connections with Telus, which isproviding access to 5G infrastructure,will help make the case to clients in the long-term care sectorthat Cliniconex's app can extend their services into home care and allow more people to age in their homes.

Meanwhile, Telus is hoping to build long-term relationships with those startups.

"The success of Hub 350 is two or three years down the road, when we look back at how many companies are sustainable in their revenueand generate wealth," said Ibrahim Gedeon, chief technology officer for Telus.

Gedeon said the inclusion of academic institutions Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, Queen's University, Algonquin College and La Cit means young professionals trained from scratch on5G will be ready to enter the workforce and create.